A photo of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was removed from the industry ministry on Tuesday after it was put on show along with all the other predecessors of outgoing Industry Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti for the 90th anniversary of the building.
The ministry said the photo would be removed "to avert polemics and instrumentalizations."
Giorgetti had previously pointed out that a photo of the dictator is in the premier's office too.
"No one has noticed that (Mussolini's photo) is also in Palazzo Chigi, not only at the industry ministry," Giorgetti had said, who is tipped to assume the role of economy minister in Georgia Meloni's likely new cabinet.
When asked why the dictator's photo had been put up in his ministry now, Giorgetti replied that Mussolini had been the first corporations minister, and that the photos of all the industry ministers in Italian history had been put on display to mark the 90th anniversary of the building, Palazzo Piacentini.
"But if there's a problem we will remove it," said the Lega party bigwig.
